5.

4 A REPEATED LOAD TRIAXIAL TEST FOR

LARGE-STONE MIXES

5.4.1 INTRODUCTION

As stated earlier, the indirect tensile stiffness test and the dynamic creep test were

arbitrary. In this regard, a repeated load triaxial test was employed in order to

examine the effects of arbitrary conditions of the foregoing asphalt tests on the

experimental results. Another objective of the test was to study the effects of

confining pressures, magnitude and duration of external loads, and temperature on the

resistance of large-stone mixes to permanent deformation. Furthermore, using the

triaxial testing device, the application of the interrupted dynamic creep test allowed

visco-elastic behaviour of large-stone mixes to be characterised. However, there were

limitations of the device. It was only suitable for the standard dimension of triaxial

samples, i.e. 200 mm in height and 100 mm in diameter. Besides, the stresses could

only be applied along principal directions of a test specimen. Where two of three

principal stresses were customarily assumed to be equal, and commonly produced by

the confining pressure. Here, the material behaviour was assumed to be isotropic

whereas the real materials in in-situ pavements were reported to behave more

complex (anisotropic) than the laboratory assumption above. This area, however, is

beyond a coverage of this thesis, and appears to be a challenge for future research.

5.4.2 METHODOLOGY AND THE DESIGN OF EXPERIMENT

As also stated earlier, the substitution of an ordinary creep test device was intended to

look at how far such arbitrary conditions could risk the material characterisation. So

that, one of two axial loading applications was set to be equal to that a standard load
175
in the creep testing, i.e. the vertical load of 200 kPa with 500 ms (microseconds)

duration of loading, and followed by 1500 ms rest period between loading pulses.

This selection was also concerned with examining effects of distinct devices used for

the test on the experimental results. Therefore, this load variable was considered to be

a low level of loading treatments.

As reviewed before in Chapter two, the literature has revealed that load applications

in the laboratory testing must represent loading conditions in the in-situ pavements.

Hence, a vertical load of 540 kPa, that was equivalent to a customary tyre pressure

used for trucks, was chosen as another magnitude of the applied loads. Taking into

account increases in both the volume and number of heavy traffic loads, furthermore,

an arbitrary time of loading of about 1000 ms was selected. This was thought that it

had increased the previous selection of the time of loading by factor of 2, and

statistically denoted as a high level of loading treatments.

In this work, the foregoing vertical loads were applied repeatedly for a certain number

of load cycles N. Tests were carried out for a maximum, N, of 40,000 cycles of load

applications. The experiment showed that some asphalt test specimens had ruptured

at a certain number of loading cycles less than this criterion (AS 2891.13.2). It also

indicated that a tertiary stage in plastic strain development had occurred. From this

fact, it could be deduced that the foregoing criterion appeared to be in line with the

characteristics of heavy traffic loads in industrial and heavy-duty pavements, which

tended to high but relatively low in the number of repetitions. Accordingly, such a

maximum number of load cycles was considered sufficient to be a designated number

of loading applications, as well as taking creep rupture into account.

176
It should be noted that, the objective of research is to examine whether or not the

confining pressures affecting the results of material characterisation, the triaxial test

was performed under two modes, i.e. with a confining pressure (  3  0 ) and without a

confining pressure ( 3  0 ). Based on the laboratory trial and errors, a stress ratio of

3
 0.5 was selected as a high level of loading treatments, where  is the vertical
1

stress, and  is the confining pressure, and this is discussed further in Section 5.4.3.

Furthermore, using a 24 factorial design with no replication, the experiment was

designed to investigate the effects of loading conditions on resistance of asphalt test

samples to permanent deformation, as shown in Table 5.14.

Table 5.14 The Experimental design for investigating the effects of loading
conditions on resistance of mixes to the permanent deformation

VERTICAL STRESS (V)

V1 = 200 (kPa) V2 = 540 (kPa)
Confining Pressure Confining Pressure
P1 = 0 (kPa) P2 =100(kPa) P1 = 0(kPa) P2=270(kPa)

d1 0.5 s V1P1d1T1 V1P2d1T1 V2P1d1T1 V2P2d1T1

o
T1 25 C load duration (d)
d2 1.0 s V1P1d2T1 V1P2d2T1 V2P1d2T1 V2P2d2T1
Temperature(T)
d1 0.5 s V1P1d1T2 V1P2d1T2 V2P1d1T2 V2P2d1T2
T2 35oC load duration (d)
d2 1.0 s V1P1d2T2 V1P2d2T2 V2P1d2T2 V2P2d2T2

The experiment showed that there was a critical shortage in the triaxial device used.

It has been indicated that such a device was not fully designed for handling the test

specimens at higher temperature. When testing temperature rose up to 50 o C, that was

equal to the temperature in the creep test, there was a leak in the confining medium
177
(i.e. silicon oil) throughout transducer cables as well as from the base of triaxial

chamber. Therefore, a high level of temperature treatments was decreased to 35o C.

This was found to solve the leaking problem, since a low level of treatments was

selected at 25o C.

In conjunction with the interrupted dynamic creep test (Kenis and Sharma 1976), the

accumulated visco-elastic strain was allowed to recover at N 1 and the remaining

plastic strain was measured. Subsequently, the repeated loading was resumed and

terminated after a specified number of load cycles N2 (larger than N1), and then the

process was repeated several times. The number of load cycles, which loading and

unloading were applied, was given in Table 5.15.

Table 5.15 Selected number of load cycles for the interrupted dynamic creep test
Number of load cycles Pulse duration Rest period after pulses
(N) (minutes) (minutes)
1 0.008 15
30 0.250 15
100 0.833 30
1000 8.333 30
10000 83.33 60
20000 166.6 60
40000 333.3 120

Based on laboratory trial and errors in this experiment, it was shown that the rest

periods after pulses given was adequate for identifying both the delayed visco-elastic

and plastic components of the strains. However, the available program for the

dynamic creep test was found inadequate for the interrupted dynamic creep test.

Hence, an electrical signal to interrupt the dynamic creep test was manually sent

through the keyboard as well as the signal to resume the test. The delayed elastic

strain was then manually recorded as the differences between the strain measured at
178
the end of the specified number of load cycles, and the strain remaining after the

recovery process of visco-elastic strain deceased and prior to resume the creep test.

In order to minimise biased results on this experiment, Table 5.16 presents another

design of experiment made with aim to examine the effects of frequency, duration and

magnitude of vertical stresses, as well as the mix constituents on the material

parameters with respect to resistance of the mixes to permanent deformation.

Table 5.16 The design of experiment for studying effects of load conditions, and
mix components on the mix parameters of the deformation resistance
 Experiment for Investigating Effects of Frequency
1.0 Hz 0.5 Hz 0.25 Hz
Grading III & Multigrade (G3,Multi,4.0%) (G3,Multi,4.0%) (G3,Multi,4.0%)
 Experiment for Investigating Effects of Load Duration
500 ms 1000 ms 1500 ms
Grading III & Multigrade (G3,Multi,4.0%) (G3,Multi,4.0%) (G3,Multi,4.0%)
 Experiment for Investigating Effects of Confining Pressures (3 )
400 kPa 270 kPa 100 kPa
Grading III & Multigrade (G3,Multi,4.0%) (G3,Multi,4.0%) (G3,Multi,4.0%)
 Experiment for Investigating Effects of Vertical Stresses (1 )
540 kPa 405 kPa 335 kPa 100 kPa
Grading III & Multigrade (G3,Mlt,4%) (G3,Mlt,4%) (G3,Mlt,4%) (G3,Mlt,4%)
 Experiment for Investigating Effects of Bitumen Content
4.0 % 4.5 % 5.0 %
Grading III & Multigrade (G3,Multi,4.0%) (G3,Multi,4.5%) (G3,Multi,5.0%)
 Experiment for Investigating Effects of Bitumen Types
C-170 C-320 Multigrade
Grading III & 4 % (G3,C170,4.0%) (G3,C320,4.0%) (G3,Multi,4.0%)
 Experiment for Investigating Effects of Gradation Types
G-I G-II G-III
Multigrade & 4 % (GI,Multi,4.0%) (GII,Multi,4.0%) (GIII,Multi,4.0%)
 Experiment for Investigating Effects of Healing Behaviour
Using type III aggregate gradation 4.0 % 4.5 % 5.0 %
C-170 (GIII,C170,4.0%) (GIII,C170,4.5%) (GIII,C170,5.0%)
C-320 (GIII,C320,4.0%) (GIII,C320,4.5%) (GIII,C320,5.0%)
Multigrade (GIII,Multi,4.0%) (GIII,Multi,4.5% (GIII,Multi,5.0%)
)

179
5.4.3 PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

5.4.3.1 A Statistical Evaluation for the Experimental Results

In association with a statistical analysis, the design of experiment in Table 5.14 can be

rearranged in terms of the following configuration, as shown in Table 5.17. Also, it

has been included in Table 5.17, the resulting response of the mixes in terms of the

axial permanent strains,  , and the mix stiffness. In order to restrict high variations in

laboratory test samples, a limit on the density variance of the samples was set out of

about + 5 % from the mean, and used the mix composition of type III aggregate

gradation, Multigrade, and 4 per cent bitumen content. Volumetric properties of test

samples as well as a statistical evaluation for the triaxial sample densities are

presented in Table D.1 (Appendix D).

Table 5.17 A 24 Factorial design of experiment using the Triaxial testing

device

Run Treatment 1 3 Pulse width Temp.  Stiffness

combination (kPa) (kPa) (seconds) (o C) (strain) (MPa)
1 (1) 200 0 0.5 25 0.066 1924
2 a 540 0 0.5 25 0.958 1823
3 b 200 100 0.5 25 0.010 1701
4 ab 540 270 0.5 25 0.025 6089
5 c 200 0 1.0 25 0.187 1921
6 ac 540 0 1.0 25 1.083 919
7 bc 200 100 1.0 25 0.011 2231
8 abc 540 270 1.0 25 0.091 4531
9 d 200 0 0.5 35 0.476 1474
10 ad 540 0 0.5 35 1.739 671
11 bd 200 100 0.5 35 0.032 1594
12 abd 540 270 0.5 35 0.133 5981
13 cd 200 0 1.0 35 0.779 1023
14 acd 540 0 1.0 35 2.109 707
15 bcd 200 100 1.0 35 0.054 1329
16 abcd 540 270 1.0 35 0.168 2232

180
Using Yate’s algorithm for the 24 factorial design, both specimen responses are

evaluated, and presented in Table E.1(a) & (b) (Appendix E). Correspondingly, the

analysis of variance of Table 5.17 is shown in Table 5.18.

Table 5.18 Analysis of variance for the mix response to permanent deformation
in A, B, and D factors (significant effect only)

Source of variations Sum of Deg. of Mean F F

squares freedom square calculatio critical
n
Vertical stress (A) 2.753 1 2.753 94.080 11.26 *
Confining pressure (B) 5.902 1 5.902 201.714 11.26 *
Temperature (D) 1.170 1 1.170 39.990 11.26 *
AB 2.071 1 2.071 70.800 11.26 *
AD 0.107 1 0.107 3.657
BD 0.818 1 0.818 27.959 11.26 *
ABD 0.059 1 0.059 2.017
Error 0.234 8 0.029
Total 13.114
Note : * significant at 1 per cent

Figure 5.17 demonstrates a normal probability plot of the effect estimates for the

triaxial test asphalt samples with respect to the design of experiment in Table 5.17 and

incorporating the numerical results computed using the Yate’s algorithm.

A
100.0
Normal probability, (Pjx100)

C
D
80.0 AD
CD
60.0
ABC
ABCD
40.0
ABD
BC
20.0 BD
AB
B
0.0
-1.5 -1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5

Effect estimates

Figure 5.17 Normal probability plot of the effect estimates for resistance
of asphalt test samples to permanent deformation

181
Analogous to Yate’s algorithm for the resistance of mixes to permanent deformation,

by replacing the  (strain) column with the stiffness column in Table 5.17 allowed the

analysis of variance for the mix stiffness to be computed, and presented in Table 5.19.

Table 5.19 Analysis of variance for the stiffness modulus of asphalt mixes
in A, and B factors (significant effect only)

Source of variations Sum of Deg. of Mean F F

squares freedom square calculation critical
Vertical stress (A) 11.897 1 11.897 4.120 3.46 *
Confining pressure (B) 25.205 1 25.205 8.729 7.57 **
AB 28.979 1 28.979 10.036 7.57 **
Error 23.100 8 2.888
Total 89.191 11
Note : * significant at 5 per cent
** significant at 20 per cent

Figure 5.18 shows a normal probability plot of the effect estimates for the stiffness

response. However, the legends of the source of variations are not illustrated all

except for the significant factors and several illustrative samples only. Moreover, as

also indicated in Figure 5.17, it was shown that all the material factors departed from

the normal probability line were found to be significant. Limited investigation

showed that the effect of the vertical stress was significant at 1% on both a permanent

strain accumulation and a resilient modulus of the samples. The temperature and the

confining pressure were found significant at 1% & 5% to affect the permanent strain

accumulation of test samples but fairly significant in affecting the resilient modulus.

182
 B
100.0

Normal probability, (Pjx100)

80.0 ACD AB
A
BD
60.0
CD
40.0 ABCD

ABC
20.0
D
C
0.0
-2.500 -1.500 -0.500 0.500 1.500 2.500

Effect estimates

Figure 5.18 Normal probability plot of the effect estimates

for the stiffness of asphalt test samples

Most asphalt test samples from the design of experiment shown in Table 5.16 were

subjected to an interrupted dynamic creep test. The visco-elastic behaviour of these

test samples were therefore characterised using a developed constitutive equation,

which based on the energy dissipated approach. In this regard, a detail analysis and a

prediction of the material behaviour of the mixes are presented later in Chapter Six.

5.4.3.2 Determination of the Stress Ratio R between the Vertical Stress

1 and the Confining Pressure 3

Figures 5.19 and 5.20 show the effects of a various stress ratio between vertical stress

and confining pressures on the axial permanent strains. It is indicated from these

3
figures that a gradual increase in the stress ratio of R  (from R = 0 to R = 0.75)
1

decreased the permanent strains accumulation. Thus, ignorance to this effect would

lead to misinterpretation and misjudgment of the material behaviour. A similar trend

183
of strain responses was observed in association with the variations in the vertical

stress 1 , which were applied in this work, i.e. 1 = 200 kPa and 1 = 540 kPa.

a.  = 200 kPA
Axial permanent strain,  10000
(in microstrain)
1000

100

10

1
1 10 100 1000 10000
Number of load cycles (N)
R=0 R=0.25 R=0.50 R=0.75

Figure 5.19 Effect of the variations in the stress ratio R on

the axial permanent strains, with 1 = 200 kPa

In general, it can be indicated from figures that, a straight line of R = 0.50 appeared to

be close to the mean of both lines of R = 0.25 and R =0.75. Therefore, in this work,

the stress ratio R = 0.50 was considered to be a representative of many possible values

of the ratio between vertical stresses and confining pressures. This assumption, of

course, it seems to be arbitrary but when the objective of the project is to examine the

effects of confined and unconfined loading conditions of the mechanical creep test,

such an assumption is then considered appropriate.

184
 a.  = 540 kPA

Axial permanent strain, 

10000

(in microstrain)
1000

100

10

1
1 10 100 1000 10000
Number of load cycles (N)
R=0 R=0.25 R=0.50 R=0.75

Figure 5.20 Effect of the variations in the stress ratio R on

the axial permanent strains, with 1 =540 kPa

5.4.3.3 Assessment for Material Constants of the Triaxial Specimens

In correlation with the customary dynamic creep test, a simplified technique for the

analysis and comparison of experimental results of the triaxial samples is required. In

this regard, using one of two favourite models in the 1970s ( Monismith et al. 1974;

Kenis 1977; Majidzadeh et al. 1976), it used to relate the permanent strains

accumulation with the number of load repetitions. In this case, it was assumed that a

linear relationship occurred in a log-log plot between the accumulated permanent

strain p and the number of load cycles N , and related in the following expression:

Log p = Log a + b * Log N (5.6 )

where a, b = material constants.

Comparing to Eq. 5.4, and substituting A with Log a, and m with b, it leads Eq. 5.6 to

be equal with Eq. 5.4. Accordingly, a comparative evaluation of the creep results can

be made for between the ordinary test device and the triaxial test device, with respect
185
to confined or unconfined conditions of the tests. This issue is discussed further in

Chapter Seven. Table 5.20 shows the materials constants (a & b) of the triaxial

samples, for all combination treatments on the design of experiment in Table 5.14.

5.4.3.4 Effects of Confining Pressures on Resistance of the Mixes to

Permanent Deformation

9000

7500
Accumulated strain, 


6000
(in microstrain)

4500

3000  

 
1500 

0
0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000

Number of load repetition, N

Figure 5.21 A typical relationship between the accumulated strain and

the number of load repetitions of triaxial asphalt samples

Figure 5.21 shows a typical response of large-stone mix materials under the dynamic

creep tests. It can be indicated that the presence of confining pressures significantly

reduced the permanent strain accumulation. It was observed that after a certain

number of load applications, the rate of creep strains is steady due to a structural

equilibrium occurring. Here, only the transient and steady stages (or so-called the

primary and the secondary creep) were observed incorporating with the application of

confining pressures. In contrast, under unconfined condition of the creep tests, some

samples were found to produce the tertiary stage of the creep, which led to creep

rupture of the triaxial samples.

186
Table 5.20 Numerical results of the material constants (a and b)

No. Combination Intercept Slope r2

treatments a b ( %)
Investigating effects of variations of the stress ratio ( R = /  )
1 1=200 kPa; 3= 0 kPa 1.4425 0.5741 93.81
2 1=200 kPa; 3= 50 kPa 1.6241 0.2821 83.47
3 1=200 kPa; 3=100 kPa 1.4484 0.2650 74.51
4 1=200 kPa; 3=150 kPa 1.2620 0.2360 65.63
5 1=540 kPa; 3= 0 kPa 1.8689 0.5615 95.05
6 1=540 kPa; 3=135 kPa 1.8434 0.3937 90.93
7 1=540 kPa; 3=270 kPa 1.8434 0.3291 88.18
8 1=540 kPa; 3=405 kPa 1.3974 0.3255 75.87
Investigating effects of load variables on the deformation resistance
1 V1P1d1T1 1.7873 0.2204 97.46
2 V1P2d1T1 1.7937 0.0429 24.50
3 V1P1d2T1 1.9277 0.2891 98.77
4 V1P2d2T1 1.2635 0.1090 38.02
5 V1P1d1T2 1.6395 0.4454 99.06
6 V1P2d1T2 2.1386 0.0819 38.81
7 V1P1d2T2 2.4486 0.2853 95.60
8 V2P2d2T2 2.3871 0.0983 36.17
9 V2P1d1T1 2.4906 0.2580 98.94
10 V2P2d1T1 2.0101 0.0991 66.15
11 V2P1d2T1 2.1714 0.3812 98.22
12 V2P2d2T1 2.4635 0.1337 69.10
13 V2P1d1T2 2.3665 0.4582 98.57
14 V2P2d1T2 2.4101 0.1485 97.24
15 V2P1d2T2 2.5942 0.4037 97.85
16 V2P2d2T2 2.8144 0.1521 79.53
Note : All the triaxial test samples use type III aggregate grading, Multigrade class, and
4% bitumen content.

187
 (a) d=0.50 s ; T=25 C
10000

Accumulated strain
1000

(microstrain)
100

10

1
1 10 100 1000 10000 100000
Num ber of load repetitions (N)

   

(b) d=1.0 s ; T=25 C

100000

10000
Accumulated strain
(microstrain)

1000

100

10

1
1 10 100 1000 10000 100000
Num ber of load repetitions (N)

   

Figure 5.22 Effects of the confining pressure on the permanent strain

accumulation of large-stone mixes (at 25 o C)

Limited investigation showed that under the condition of the time of loading of 0.5

seconds and temperature at 25o C, an application of confining pressures decreased the

slope b (in Eq. 5.6) by 80% for 1 =200 kPa, and 77% for 1 =540 kPa. Furthermore,

with the time of loading of 1.0 second, a decrease in the slope b by 34% for 1 = 200

kPa, and 65% for 1 = 540 kPa was shown in Figure 5.22(a)&(b). A reduction was

also indicated in the slope b at the testing temperature of 35o C. This meant that there

188
was a significant reduction in the permanent strain accumulation due to a presence of

the confining pressures. Under 0.5 seconds duration of loading, the use of confining

pressures decreased the slope b by 82% for 1 = 200 kPa, and 63% for 1 = 540 kPa.

Subjected to 1.0 second duration of loading, furthermore, the slope b was decreased

by 34% for 1 = 200 kPa, and 65% for 1 = 540 kPa, as seen in Figure 5.23(a)&(b).

(a) d=0.50 s ; T=35 C

100000
Accumulated strain

10000
(microstrain)

1000

100

10

1
1 10 100 1000 10000 100000
Number of load repetitions (N)
   

(b) d=1.0 s ; T=35 C

100000

10000
Accumulated strain
(microstrain)

1000

100

10

1
1 10 100 1000 10000 100000
Num ber of load repetitions (N)

   

Figure 5.23 Effects of the confining pressure on the permanent strains

accumulation of large-stone mixes ( at 35 o C)

189
From Figures 5.22(a)&(b) and 5.23(a)&(b), it can be indicated that there was no

particular influences found relating the intercept a, due to scatter results were

observed with the application of confining pressures. In addition, as presented earlier

in Table 5.20, it can be indicated that the selected model (i.e. Eq. 5.6) was found

insufficient in predicting permanent strain responses under the confined test

conditions. This was confirmed by low percentages of the statistical r 2, which

indicated a lack of precision of the model. Thus, this agree reasonably with previous

findings that has claimed the inadequacy of such asphalt prediction model (e.g. Lytton

1994; Yandell 1994 )

5.4.3.5 Effects of the Vertical Stress on Resistance of the Mixes to

Permanent Deformation

The experiment showed that, in most cases, an increase in the vertical compressive

stress increased the slope b and the intercept a (in Eq. 5.6). At 25 o C, the rate of

permanent strain accumulation gradually increased but test samples were observed

only to produce the transient and steady stages of the creep phenomena. In contrast,

at 35o C, a test specimen subjected to the condition of vertical stress of 540 kPa, zero

confining pressure, and 1.0 second of time of loading, exhibited a permanent strain

accumulation in excess of 3% strain. As has been stated earlier, this criterion has

been set to be a limit for the tertiary stage of the creep.

Table 5.21 shows that an increase in the vertical stress from 200 kPa to 540 kPa had

increased the slope b for any testing condition.

Table 5.21 Effect of the vertical stress on the slope b of the creep curves
190
 Temp. Loading time Increase of the stress Slope Increase
(o C) (seconds) (200 kPa to 540 kPa) increase (%)
initial slope new slope
25 0.5 (unconfined) 0.2204 0.2580 0.0376 17.05
25 1.0 (unconfined) 0.2891 0.3812 0.0921 31.85
25 0.5 (confined) 0.0429 0.0991 0.0562 131.0
25 1.0 (confined) 0.1090 0.1337 0.0247 18.47
35 0.5 (unconfined) 0.4454 0.4582 0.0128 28.73
35 1.0 (unconfined) 0.2853 0.4037 0.1184 41.50
35 0.5 (confined) 0.0819 0.1485 0.0666 81.13
35 1.0 (confined) 0.0983 0.1521 0.0538 54.73

In addition, Table 5.22 presents that a similar effect to Table 5.21 was found on the

intercept a due to increasing the vertical stress.

Table 5.22 Effect of the vertical stress on the intercept a of the creep curves
Temp. Loading time Increase of the stress Intercept Increase
(o C) (seconds) (200 kPa to 540 kPa) increase (%)
initial new intercept
intercept
25 0.5 (unconfined) 1.7873 2.4906 0.7033 39.34
25 1.0 (unconfined) 1.9277 2.1714 0.2437 12.64
25 0.5 (confined) 1.7937 2.0101 0.2164 12.06
25 1.0 (confined) 1.2635 2.4635 1.2000 94.97
35 0.5 (unconfined) 1.6395 1.9812 0.3417 20.84
35 1.0 (unconfined) 2.4486 2.5942 0.1456 5.95
35 0.5 (confined) 2.1386 2.4101 0.2715 12.69
35 1.0 (confined) 2.3870 2.8144 0.4274 17.90

Figures 5.24(a) & (b) illustrate that the intercept a varied with the applied vertical

stress, and this has also been indicated on the slope b. Furthermore, there was a

consistent response observed on the intercept a due to stress variations, incorporating

the time of loading under confined or unconfined test conditions. Where the rate of

the permanent strains appeared to have a linear relationship with the number of load

repetitions, on the basis of log-log plots and this was characterised by high

magnitudes of the slope b, especially in an unconfined condition of the tests.

191
 (a) T=25 C (Unconfined)
10000

Accumulated strain
1000

(microstrain)
100

10

1
1 10 100 1000 10000 100000
Num ber of load repetitions (N)
V=200 kPa; d=0.5 s V=200 kPa; d=1.0 s
V=540 kPa; d=0.5 s V=540 kPa; d=1.0 s

(b) T=25 C (Confined)

10000
Accumulated strain

1000
(microstrain)

100

10

1
1 10 100 1000 10000 100000
Number of load repetitions (N)
V=540 kPa; d=1.0 s V=540 kPa; d=0.5 s
V=200 kPa; d=1.0 s V=200 kPa; d=0.5 s

Figure 5.24 Effects of the vertical stress on the permanent strains

accumulation of large-stone mixes ( at 25 o C)

A similar evidence to Figures 5.24(a)&(b) is also presented in Figures 5.25(a)&(b).

The experiment shows that, in general, increase in testing temperature increased the

magnitudes of the material constants. As displayed in Table 5.21 and 5.22, however,

higher values of the material constants meant that the test samples exhibited higher

accumulated permanent strains. An apparent reason for this was that the direct effects

of the vertical compressive stress had been augmented by the interference of the

temperature.
192
 (a) T=35 C (Unconfined)
100000

Accumulated strain 10000

(microstrain)
1000

100

10

1
1 10 100 1000 10000 100000
Number of load repetitions (N)
V=200 kPa; d=0.5 s V=200 kPa; d=1.0 s
V=540 kPa; d=0.5 s V=540 kPa; d=1.0 s

(b) T=35 C (Confined)

10000
Accumulated strain

1000
(microstrain)

100

10

1
1 10 100 1000 10000 100000
Number of load repetitions (N)
V=540 kPa; d=1.0 s V=540 kPa; d=0.5 s
V=200 kPa; d=1.0 s V=200 kPa; d=0.5 s

Figure 5.25 Effects of the vertical stress on the permanent strains

accumulation of large-stone mixes ( at 35 o C)

5.4.3.6 Effect of the Time of Loading on Resistance of the Mixes on the

Permanent Deformation

Figures 5.26(a)&(b) demonstrate that an increase in the time of loading increased the

permanent strain accumulation. In general, as shown in Table 5.23, an increase in the

time of loading (duration = 0.5 s to duration = 1.0 s) resulted in an increase of the intercept

parameter a although there was an indication of decreasing in the parameter a.

193
 Table 5.23 Effect of the time of loading on the intercept a of the creep curves
Temp. 3 / 1 Increase in load duration Intercept Increase
(o C) (kPa) (0.5 seconds to 1.0 second) increase (%)
initial new intercept
intercept
25 0/200 1.7873 1.9277 0.1404 7.85
35 0/200 1.6395 2.4486 0.8091 49.35
25 100/200 1.7937 1.7194 -0.0743 -4.14
35 100/200 2.1386 2.3871 0.2485 11.62
25 0/540 2.4906 2.1714 -0.3192 -12.81
35 0/540 2.3665 2.5942 0.2277 9.62
25 270/540 2.0101 2.4635 0.4534 22.55
35 270/540 2.4101 2.8144 0.4043 16.77

An apparent argument for indication to decrease was because of that the simple model

selected was not consider the transient (nonlinear) behaviour of the materials. In this

case, the material has usually had a high value of the slope b. Here, the model

intended to plot the predicted data in forms of a straight line (linear) on the basis of a

log-log plot between the permanent strain and the number of repetitions in order to

match the laboratory measured data. Accordingly, the numerical analysis of the

material constants might result in indication to decrease although the real laboratory

measurement displayed inversely. This issue might be considered as an experimental

error. For this reason, the additional design of experiment, as shown in Table 5.16,

was intended to diminish such an experimental error, and to delineate further the

external and internal factors affecting the in-situ performance of large-stone mixes.

194
 (a)  kPa (Unconfined)
10000

Accumulated strain
1000

(microstrain)
100

10

1
1 10 100 1000 10000 100000
Num ber of load repetitions (N)
T=25 C; d=1.0 s T=25 C; d=0.5 s
T=35 C; d=1.0 s T=35 C; d=0.5 s

(b)  kPa (Confined)

1000
Accumulated strain

100
(microstrain)

10

1
1 10 100 1000 10000 100000
Number of load repetitions (N)
T=25 C; d=1.0 s T=25 C; d=0.5 s
T=35 C; d=1.0 s T=35 C; d=0.5 s

Figure 5.26 Effects of the load duration on the permanent strains

accumulation of large-stone mixes ( at 1=200 kPa)

Furthermore, as shown in Table 5.24, an obvious response has been observed similar

to that found in Table 5.23. The slope parameter b increased with increasing the time

of loading. The direct effects of the loading duration on the accumulated permanent

strain seemed to be independent to that confining pressures. The experiment shows a

195
consistent response of increasing the material constants due to an increase in the time

of loading regardless confined or unconfined conditions of the creep tests.

Table 5.24 Effect of the time of loading on the intercept b of the creep curves
Temp. 3 / 1 Increase in load duration Intercept Increase
(o C) (kPa) (0.5 seconds to 1.0 second) increase (%)
initial new
intercept intercept
25 0/200 0.2204 0.2891 0.0687 31.17
35 0/200 0.4454 0.2853 -0.1601 -35.94
25 100/200 0.0429 0.1090 0.0661 154.0
35 100/200 0.0819 0.0983 0.0164 20.02
25 0/540 0.2580 0.3812 0.1232 47.75
35 0/540 0.4582 0.4037 -0.0545 -11.89
25 270/540 0.0991 0.1337 0.0346 34.91
35 270/540 0.1485 0.1521 0.0036 2.42

Figures 5.27(a)&(b) show that the effects of the time of loading on the accumulated

permanent strain was clearly indicated in a longer time of loading than in a short time

of loading, as well as using a high magnitude of loading. From this figure, it can be

seen that there was consistent responses observed comparing to Figure 5.26, which

has shown an inconclusive tendency of the material response.

Furthermore, in association with increasing the test temperature, Figure 5.27(a)&(b)

shows that at 35oC, there was an indication of material response degradation in terms

of the material constants a & b, compared to that found at 25oC. The latter response

exhibited less permanent strain accumulation under both confined and unconfined

conditions of the creep tests.

196
 (a)  kPa (Unconfined)
100000

10000

Accumulated strain
(microstrain)
1000

100

10

1
1 10 100 1000 10000 100000
Number of load repetitions (N)
T=25 C; d=1.0 s T=25 C; d=0.5 s
T=35 C; d=1.0 s T=35 C; d=0.5 s

(b)  kPa (Confined)

10000
Accumulated strain

1000
(microstrain)

100

10

1
1 10 100 1000 10000 100000
Num ber of load repetitions (N)
T=25 C; d=1.0 s T=25 C; d=0.5 s
T=35 C; d=1.0 s T=35 C; d=0.5 s

Figure 5.27 Effects of the load duration on the permanent strains

accumulation of large-stone mixes ( at 1=450 kPa)

197